


The Two-Fold Problem of Dating

by Imagined



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, First Dates, First Kiss, Flirting, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Insecure Stephen Strange, Light Angst, M/M, Miscommunication, Mistaken Identity, Online Dating, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Pining, Romantic Comedy, Secret Identity, Stephen Is A Dumbass, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 11:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21197060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imagined/pseuds/Imagined
Summary: After trying out several dating sites, Tony has still not found a significant other, and he's fed up with it. Tired of being alone, he decides to make his own dating app to help him find someone that he can see himself with. Things are going pretty well when he starts chatting with S, a sarcastic but kind-hearted neurosurgeon-turned-professor who Tony finds himself falling for in record time.Enter Stephen Strange, the witty doctor who Tony mightalsobe falling for. That is when the complications begin, and Tony has to choose between a perfect stranger, or the perfect Strange.





	The Two-Fold Problem of Dating

**Author's Note:**

> I've been struggling writing even two sentences for the past few weeks, so I was pretty surprised when inspiration hit me and I managed to write 15k in about two days. In the middle of exams. Go figure.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this unexpected thing. This is for all of you who like Tony and Stephen being oblivious dumbasses. That's all of us, right?

‘’You know what you also could have done?’’ Pepper says flatly, as she stares at Tony. ‘’Gone out and met someone. In person.’’

Tony snorts, and nudges the phone closer to her. ‘’Just look at it. It’s a neat concept, isn’t it? It’s not just for me, Pep - it’s for all of us.’’

‘’Don’t we have enough dating apps?’’ Pepper says in exasperation, but to her credit, she takes the phone and scrolls down the app to see all the options. The app is something that Tony has been working on for a while, and he’s actually really proud of how smoothly it works. All the testers had been overwhelmingly positive.

He takes the phone from her again. ‘’This is no mere dating app,’’ he says. ‘’You know what the problem is with dating apps? Anonymity. You see a picture of someone you like, and you lose all sight of personality.’’

‘’Just because that’s true for you -’’

‘’It’s true for a lot of people and you know it.’’ At Tony’s interruption, Pepper falls silent. With a sigh and a wave of her hand, she gestures at him to continue. ‘’This app doesn’t show you pictures. It’s going to find someone for you based on your wants out of a relationship, which you can fill in at the start, along with your name, though only the first initial will be visible at first. Fill in all the usual - age, gender preference, that kind of thing. But then the magic starts. The app should make it impossible for a person to find someone they’re really incompatible with.’’

‘’It’s not bad,’’ Pepper says, and her voice softens. ‘’You’re really trying this again, aren’t you?’’

Tony shrugs. ‘’Not all of us can be as lucky as you. When am I going to get to meet your mystery girlfriend anyway?’’

‘’When I deem her to be ready for you,’’ Pepper says, but she’s smiling. ‘’Relax, Tony. It’s a good idea. We’ll do some light advertising to get it going.’’

‘’I want it to be free,’’ Tony adds hastily. ‘’You know. To get ahead of the competition. Get a large user base.’’

Pepper stares at him for a moment, but she doesn’t put up a fight. She doesn’t really have a reason to - Tony didn’t create it during company-time, which means she can’t actually CEO him around on this one. 

There’s plenty of dating apps out there. Some are plain bad, while others are decent. Tony is just tired of doing it this way - he’d used his own photo, the first few times, until he’d been called out as a catfisher one too many times. Using another photo seemed deceitful, though, and even then he didn’t quite know what to go for. He wants something real, but going out to meet someone is - well, tedious, at best. 

He’s matured too much to go out and meet new people like he used to. Not interested in all the ways he used to find his dates. After Pepper and he had broken up, Tony had been struggling for a while. It’d been fun to get back to his old dating habits for maybe two months, before he’d realized how much he missed just sitting on the couch and watching movies. Just being near someone who knew you like that.

That had been when he’d started fiddling with dating profiles. It’d taken another three months for him to realize that that was going nowhere, and he’d made up his own app.

And here he is. Pepper has already been dating someone for a couple of months now - a woman whose name Tony doesn’t know. He doesn’t even know how Pepper knows her. If he really tried, he could probably figure it out, but he’d like for her to tell him at her own pace. If they’re not anything else, they’re still friends. He trusts her more than anyone in the world, save for Rhodey.

‘’We’ll launch it officially this week,’’ Pepper says eventually. ‘’Free of charge, fit for all kinds of devices. I’m sure it’ll do wonderfully, Tony. Did you have a name for it already?’’

He smiles bitterly. ‘’SaltPepper,’’ he says. ‘’Maybe it’ll help someone else find the salt to match their pepper.’’

She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t have to. Tony knows well enough what she’s thinking. It’s not a dig at her, the name; it’s just a personal joke. 

~*~

Tony watches the following weeks as his app grows and grows. There’s only some slight modifications to be made, but otherwise - SaltPepper runs wonderfully. The backlash is minimum - there’s always backlash, at least when Tony is involved in something - and the user base is slowly growing. 

He hasn’t touched his own profile in that time - he’d been so busy updating everything that he’d been glad to not have to touch the app in his free time for a while. Besides… just because the option exists to find someone through SaltPepper, it’s hard to just go on and see if there’s anyone available for him. The more choice there is, and the more people that downloaded the app, the harder it is to go back. 

What if there’s someone on there that he can really grow to care about? What if he’s not what they expect of him and he’ll get his heart broken again? The app may work, but it’s no guarantee he won’t be left again.

He just decides to let it run for a while, and not chance his own heart in the meantime. 

~*~

‘’How is it working so far?’’ Rhodey asks, handing him a cup of coffee while he sits down next to him. ‘’I haven’t heard you talk about the app again. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.’’

Rhodey is gone most of the time, his military job taking precedence over all else, so Tony appreciates it all the more when he is here to spend time with him. Tony can’t blame him, but he misses his lifelong friend. He can’t talk with Pepper about everything, and Happy just doesn’t get him sometimes. 

Tony offers him only a shrug. ‘’I haven’t been back on it.’’

‘’Why not?’’ Rhodey asks, narrowing his eyes at him. ‘’You told me this was your way to get over Pepper. That this was going to be the real deal.’’

‘’What if it’s not?’’ Tony says. ‘’It’s just an app, it doesn’t work magic. I don’t need it. Why should I date anyone, anyway? I’m fine by myself.’’

‘’Liar,’’ Rhodey tells him, but it’s soft. His friend shuffles nearer, letting out a sigh. ‘’Look, I wasn’t going to tell you this because I thought you were going to be all prissy about it - but I tried it out. The app works, Tony. You might not find your perfect partner immediately, but you have a solid user base now. The whole reason you started this is because you legitimately wanted to meet someone. You can, now. Why are you chickening out?’’

Tony stays silent, leaning back on the couch with his coffee. He knows what Rhodey wants to hear, but he can’t.

Rhodey just stares at him, while Tony stubbornly refuses to stare back. Staying silent for too long isn’t his strong suit, however. ‘’So this coffee -’’

‘’Tony.’’

‘’Right. What do you want me to say? So, let’s say I meet someone on there. Someone that I can like just as much as I did Pepper, when we were dating. What’s the guarantee they’ll stay? What if it’s just like all the other apps, and nobody thinks it’s me? What if they only stay _because_ it’s me?’’

Rhodey sighs and moves closer, slinging an arm over his shoulder. ‘’This isn’t going to be a problem, Tony, I promise,’’ he says. ‘’You know why not?’’

‘’Enlighten me,’’ Tony says dryly.

A mischievous smirk appears on his friend’s face as he moves away. ‘’Because I grabbed your phone, I know your password, and I’m going to update your account. And then we’ll see what happens afterwards.’’

Tony manages to laugh at Rhodey’s sneakiness, the uneasiness slowly disappearing. Just because Rhodey is making him take the first step doesn’t mean anything. Tony can take this as far as he wants to, by himself - if someone messages him, he can just choose not to respond. And maybe Rhodey is right. Maybe it’s time to see if the app works. And if it doesn’t - well, he can always change things.

~*~

The profile isn’t half bad. Rhodey picked a photo of him - Tony doesn’t even remember when it was made. The photo won’t become visible to anyone in contact with him until they’re a few stages into the dating cycle that Tony set up, so it’s nothing to worry about yet.

His biography is another matter. The usual things are on there - his age, gender, nationality, where he’s living, all that kind of stuff. Rhodey has been kind to him in the description, and Tony just smiles at his friend typing it all out. All in all, it’s a decent thing - not too elaborate, but honest and enough information to attract anyone who might care.

_Smart-mouthed, dedicated, and loyal man in search of a serious relationship. Not the easiest to deal with at first, but if you want to get to know me, I’m actually a really kind person who will do anything for the people I love most. I love working with my hands and am tech-savvy, and will talk about innovations all day long if you don’t shut me up. Probably addicted to coffee. I’m searching for someone who can match me in wit and is looking for something serious as well. - T_

He considers changing it, but doesn’t, in the end. Who knows him better than Rhodey, after all? And besides, he wouldn’t be able to write anything that sounds just as nice. Rhodey’s even set his preferences in a way Tony can’t disagree with. 

He sighs and lays down the phone while he rests his head on his pillow. He’ll see what comes out of it - there is enough to do for him in the coming few days without having to worry about a dating app, even if it’s his own app. There’s a few meetings that he needs to attend, or Pepper will have his head. 

Sleep reaches him before he can stop to worry about anything else.

~*~

There’s five messages on there. Five whole messages.

Tony didn’t know what he’d expected. Maybe he hadn’t expected anything - maybe he’d thought no one would send him anything at all? His description doesn’t say _that_ much, after all, and he hadn’t sought anyone out. 

He hadn’t been on the app in a few days, as he’d been too busy playing as the head of R&D for Stark Industries. It’s an important few months for them, as they’ve started up a few partnerships that they need to do projects for. All of it is still being planned, but Tony needs to come up with designs and ideas. There are a thousand possibilities, of course, but only a few viable ones, and it’s his job to see which ones they are.

Then it had been a while of trying to pretend he didn’t care about SaltPepper and wondering if he’d gotten any messages, but not wanting to see.

And just now, he’d caved in only to see that he _has_ messages. Several of them.

_Tue 4:43pm - What’s up? I like a man who can use his hands if u know what I mean ;) xxx F_

Tony makes a face. The profile belongs to a 45-year-old woman with a suggestive biography. He doesn’t doubt that she would have sent messages to all men that she could find that would be in her age category. It’s not the kind of thing he’s interested in, and he deletes her as a possible match.

The two following are simple saying ‘_hi_’, without anything else. One is from a man, the other a woman. The man’s profile says his age is 20, and Tony deletes it as well. The woman has some information but none of it appeals to him; he still has two others to go, though, so he scrunches his nose before deleting her as well.

The next one is very similar to the first one, and he deletes the woman without even checking her profile. He sighs - only one option left. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up like this. He hadn’t even realized he was holding his breath until now.

It’s kind of pathetic. Here he sits, on the edge of his bed with one shoe off and the other still dangling on his foot, scrolling on his phone, hoping to find someone he can fall in love with. Where are the times when he went to the club and swept a girl off her feet? Why does he _care_ about it? Why did he even expect it to work?

Tony Stark - inventor, billionaire, philanthropist, at the top of the world - relying on an app that he made himself just so he wouldn’t be lonely.

Well. He still has one person he needs to respond to - he sees they sent him three messages in a row. Might just as well open them.

_08:21am - Hello. I thought your profile was very intriguing, and my friend told me to send a message. - S_

_08:23am - Oh. She said that was the worst opening line ever, but this app won’t let me delete messages. - S_

_08:23am - It was nice messaging you. I’ll see myself out. - S_

Tony grins to himself. The messages were sent only this morning, so Tony hasn’t been ignoring this person for that long. It doesn’t seem like they are really great at flirting, but that’s - well, kind of endearing, maybe? He’s used to smoother opening lines, but maybe he prefers this.

He opens the profile - no picture, of course, but there’s a short description.

_Former neurosurgeon, current professor. Not interested in one night stands and also not in giving free medical advice. I like reading and quiet nights in. - S_

Besides that, he can see that the person is a guy a couple of years younger than Tony. Tony hasn’t dated a man in years, but that’s not exactly a dealbreaker. In fact - this man is definitely interesting. He has to be pretty smart, to have been a neurosurgeon. 

He debates his phone for a few more moments, leisurely removing his shoe and tie. Responding isn’t an easy thing, though - the doctor messaged Tony first, but that doesn’t mean that Tony doesn’t have to make a good first impression, too.

Well. Best just to go with his first instincts. Pepper may not agree with that sentiment, but there’s nothing to lose here.

_7:58pm - I’ve heard worse opening lines. Tonight, even. To be fair, my bar is pretty low at the moment. - T_

He keeps the app opened on his phone while he changes into more comfortable clothing. He still has some leftover pizza that he can eat for dinner - he doesn’t feel like ordering something new and his cooking skills are adequate, but he can’t really make anything that is worth looking forward to.

A ping from his phone makes him look up just before he stands up to get his dinner. The phone is still lying on his bed, screen lighting up. All his notifications are off, usually, except for when Pepper and Rhodey call him. But it’s not either of them right now - it’s SaltPepper.

_8:14pm - You must hear a lot of opening lines, in that case. Your low bar gives me a severe advantage, so I can’t complain. Sorry, I’m not good at opening lines. How are you? - S_

Tony takes his phone with him to the living room, already typing.

_8:16pm - Not really, I just had a few messages on this app that were kinda unwanted. Hadn’t checked it for a few days. I’ve been busy, but I’m all good now, just on my way to eat some pizza. How about you? You’re a professor, right? - T_

The pizza sits in the fridge and Tony slides it out in a smooth motion. It’s still as greasy as ever, and he has to put his phone down to take his first bite. He could reheat it, but he slides down his chair instead and munches the cold pizza. He forgot to eat lunch and didn’t have time for a big breakfast, and pizza is always a winner. His stomach rumbles, finally having been reminded that yes, it does need food.

His phone makes a noise, and Tony wipes off his fingers on his sweatpants before picking it up again.

_8:20pm - Enjoy the pizza. Yes, I’m a professor right now. What have you been so busy with, if you don’t mind me asking? - S_

Tony grins and leans back in his chair, taking another piece of pizza and ripping a bit off with his teeth before typing with only one hand. It takes a bit longer, but he doesn’t mind the wait.

_8:23pm - Thanks. I’m pretty high up in R&D for a tech company, so I was busy making sure everything was all covered for a few meetings with associates these past few days. These corporate types are pretty hard to please. - T_

He can see that the mysterious S already starts typing again once he hits send, and so he takes his plate of cold pizza, puts it in his lap, and doesn’t even notice the grin on his face until his mouth starts hurting.

~*~

‘’Tony?’’ 

He shoots up, one side of his face cold from the glass table it’d been resting on. He rubs his hand over his cheek and looks up. Pepper looks at him with a rather amused expression on her face, though her arms are folded. 

‘’I was paying attention,’’ he says, and twirls in his chair. ‘’I’m definitely up. No idea why you thought I wasn’t.’’

‘’Obviously,’’ Pepper responds, humouring him as she hands him a file. ‘’We got an invite to a gala.’’

‘’I do have an assistant,’’ Tony says, though he has no idea where she is right now. ‘’The blonde girl, right? The one with the high heels and the long skirts… Lisa. That’s her name, isn’t it?’’

‘’That was your last assistant and her name was Lydia. I don’t know why you keep firing these girls, Tony. Please, let just one stay for more than a month and you’ll see that they’re doing fine jobs.’’

A sigh escapes him. They may be doing alright as assistants, but Tony doesn’t like any of them. They’re all trying too hard to please him, too much in awe of him - he doesn’t want it. He wants the old days back, sometimes, with Pepper as his PA and Rhodey as his best friend and him trying to do his best and not fuck up the company.

Afghanistan and his illness afterwards had changed so many things. He wonders what would’ve happened if he’d never been captured. If his heart had never been damaged so extensively. 

It’s hard to tell Pepper that he doesn’t want an assistant. Realistically, he needs one - but the only PA he’d ever really accept is her, and that’s not what she needs to hear, or what Tony needs to say. 

‘’I will,’’ he says, and both of them know he won’t do any such thing. Pepper sighs.

‘’You just had a notification. Everything alright with Rhodey?’’

Tony blinks and takes his phone. It’s a message from S. They don’t often text during the day, both of them being busy - their texting mostly happens during the evening, Tony often having JARVIS read out the messages as he tinkers with something.

It’s been going on for a few days now, and Tony really likes talking with S. He has received a few messages from other people, but the only one he talks regularly with is the person he started chatting with first. S is witty in a sharp and dry way, and his retorts make Tony laugh out loud sometimes.

There’s a button, simply labeled ‘stage 2’ in the app, for when people have been talking for a few days. You can press it if you think you’re ready for the next step in the app, and if you’ve both pressed it, you will be able to see more information about someone. Still no pictures, but some more personal information will be available. Rhodey hadn’t filled in that bit for him, so Tony had tentatively put some things in there.

He thinks about pressing that button. He doesn’t know if S has pressed it already - the app won’t tell him - and he doesn’t want to use his admin powers on the app to find out. He wants to do this the natural way.

Maybe he’ll press it today and see what happens.

Pepper is still looking at him. Tony sits up straighter, trying to remember what she’d asked. ‘’Rhodey is fine. Absolutely fine. Why? Isn’t he fine?’’

‘’You tell me,’’ she says slowly. ‘’Considering that - oh my god. That wasn’t Rhodey, was it? That’s _someone else_. You have notifications on for someone else?’’

‘’I just never turned them off,’’ Tony protests, ‘’which is very different from turning them on. You still haven’t introduced me to your mysterious girlfriend, so I think I’m allowed to keep this to myself for a while. Now, tell me about this gala.’’

Pepper seems amused, shaking her head a bit before giving into his demands. ‘’It’s a thing organized by the boards of several hospitals. We’re invited, now that they’re our associates. It might be nice to have some prototypes ready for them before the gala and to show off some ideas during the event. We’re also allowed to bring a plus one, so you’ll meet May there.’’

‘’May?’’ Tony asks, and realization dawns. ‘’You’re bringing your new girlfriend? Her name’s May?’’

Pepper’s smile is soft as she looks away. ‘’We’ve been together for a few months now. We’re both in a good place and think this is going well. So she decided that she’s ready to try and make this public. Not too public, mind you, but a gala might be a good place to start. You can invite your new girlfriend too.’’

‘’Not a girl,’’ Tony says, and Pepper raises her eyebrows in interest.

‘’You’re dating a man?’’

‘’Also not actually dating. It’s chatting, Pep. It might be just nothing. Now, get off my back and let me work. I was very busy before you came in.’’

‘’Busy napping, yes,’’ she laughs, but backs off. Just before she disappears, she turns back one more time. ‘’Tony, I just want to say - I think it’s good that you’re doing this. I really hope it’ll be more than chatting, soon.’’

‘’Go be a CEO,’’ he says, and throws a wad of paper at her. She disappears with a grin and leaves Tony sitting behind his desk. He stretches his arms, feeling a bit sore from sleeping in an uncomfortable position. He’d been up too late, but he’d just made some breakthroughs in some designs that had been bugging him, and he hadn’t wanted to stop at that point.

He’s getting too old for all-nighters. With a sigh, he opens up the message from S.

_3:31pm - Young adults will be the death of me. Were we this annoying at this age? - S_

Tony smiles at the message, and leans his elbows on his legs as he leans back and types out his response.

_3:43pm - I think I was far worse. You just have to be glad you’re not teaching a young me, or you would have grey hairs by now. - T_

The response doesn’t take long. Maybe S is on a break from the kids.

_3:45pm - The joke is on you if you think I don’t have grey hairs already. - S_

Tony smiles down at his phone, and presses the button ‘stage 2’. Nothing changes - that means S hasn’t pressed it yet, but that’s fine. He knows S is kind of new to the entire thing, and he has a good feeling about it. S will press it when he’s ready for it, and Tony thinks he can wait a little while longer.

~*~

‘’I’m fine, Happy,’’ Tony insists, as his bodyguard stays by his side. ‘’It’s just a slightly more important meeting than normal. Why aren’t you babysitting Pepper?’’

‘’Pepper doesn’t need a babysitter,’’ Happy says blandly, and ouch. Tony just rolls his eyes at him and takes a few steps further. Happy doesn’t follow on his heels, this time, but the bodyguard sends him a threatening look. One would think Tony could be assassinated at any moment now, by the way Happy is hovering over him.

With a shake of his head, Tony takes his phone out. His heart skips a beat when he sees the notification of a message on PepperSalt, but it’s not from S. A woman has sent him a text - she seems nice from her profile, and the message isn’t half bad. There’s only one slight problem: she isn’t S.

The chatting has gone on for about two weeks now, and it’s a daily thing. S had clicked the ‘stage 2’ button not long after Tony had, and they’d continued talking like they always did. S hadn’t mentioned anything about the things Tony had made available to him, and neither had Tony said anything about the stuff that S had put in there, not sure how to start. The conversation hasn’t slowed down, though, and Tony likes S more and more.

Until he’d stopped responding, two days ago. Tony had sent him a few messages in that time, but he doesn’t want to come over as too needy, so he’d kept it to a minimum. He’s slightly worried, but he doesn’t want to get into S’s account and check up on him. S is entitled to his privacy - and Tony will give it to him, unless S will keep on ignoring him.

He’s aware that the concern is more than just that for a new friend. He _likes_ S, despite not even knowing his first name - he knows enough without that. He knows that S was a dedicated doctor and has been teaching for two years now, and that he likes yoga and swimming. He knows that S is an avid reader and knows an awful lot about many things, and that he has a photographic memory. 

Moreover, he knows that S is kind and witty; that he’s a calm and patient man; that he lost a sister in his childhood, and that’s why he wanted to be a doctor. He knows enough to be aware that he’s falling for S.

Tony had forgotten how easily he loved. It had taken him so long to start dating Pepper that he hadn’t even thought about how quickly he had fallen for her. It’s taking him even less time to realize that he loves his hours of chatting with S more than usual.

Well. At least he’s in tune with his emotions, for now. If only S just responded to his messages. He stuffs his phone back into his pocket when Happy taps his shoulder and tells him that the boards for the hospitals are ready to hear him.

He plasters on a smile on his face, and walks in.

When he walks out again, there’s a message from S waiting for him, and that brings him more relief than hearing that the different boards of stuffy old men had liked his ideas.

_4:21pm - Sorry I was gone. Had a few difficult days. - S_

Tony just sighs, and doesn’t even look back to the meeting room.

_5:57pm - No problem. Are you feeling better now? I’m here if you need to talk. - T_

_6:07pm - I know. Just talking to you makes me feel better already. - S_

~*~

May is a beautiful woman. Her chestnut brown hair flows over her shoulders and a red dress hugs her figure tightly but tastefully. There’s no doubt in Tony’s mind that Pepper chose the dress for her. The two of them together look like goddesses, standing next to each other -

Or they would have, had May not been a rambling mess full of anxiety. 

‘’And it’s not that I _wanted_ to bring him,’’ she says, her hands waving around. She almost knocks Tony’s drink out of his hands, and this only serves to make her look more sheepish. ‘’Oh, sorry, look at me - it’s just, it’s hard getting a babysitter for teenagers, right? They think they’re too old for that, and Peter’s so responsible and he wanted to come, but he’s just - well, he’s still growing, you see, and not that I think that he’s short now, but -’’

‘’_May_,’’ the teenage boy says, a flush on his face. His suit is expensive and fashionable, so Pepper must have been responsible for that too. ‘’Can I talk to you in the corner? _Over there_, where you can’t embarrass me in front of _Tony Stark_?’’

These last words are whispered, but that doesn’t stop Tony from hearing them. He grins as the brown-haired boy drags his aunt away with him, his face still red as a tomato. May waves at him and Pepper before she turns her attention to Peter.

Pepper watches her go with a soppy smile plastered on her. Tony just sends her a knowing look, unable to stop himself.

‘’You have a thing for brown-haired people who do a lot of talking without stopping, don’t you?’’ he points out. ‘’Pepper Potts, you have a _type_.’’

She just waves him away. ‘’At least she doesn’t blow up labs in the middle of the night.’’

‘’No, but from that story she told me, it sounds like she just blows up the kitchen when she forgets she’s cooking. Must be way easier to clean.’’

‘’Oh, shut up.’’

Tony gently nudges her. ‘’I like her, Pep. I think she’s a nice woman. And that nephew of hers seems very bright. Maybe I’ll steal him for an internship. You think he’d like that?’’

‘’I think Peter would implode with enthusiasm,’’ she says dryly. ‘’He’s a really smart boy, Tony, but he’s also just a kid. I think you’d be a great mentor for him, but don’t be too hard on him. He’s more sensitive than you were at that age.’’

‘’He’ll be fine,’’ Tony says cheerfully. Peter Parker sends him a few covert looks from where he’s still talking to his aunt. Yeah, he likes this boy and May already. They obviously were trying to make a good impression on him, and Pepper let them. He’s already been invited to several lunches and dinner, which he’ll be sure to take them up on someday.

Pepper is practically family, at this point. The Parkers will undoubtedly become important to him, and he’s kind of looking forward to that. He’s never had that many people; there are only three people in his life that he considers his friends, right now: Pepper, Rhodey and Happy. Two more is a great step forward.

Well, maybe three more. If S wants to bring it to the next stage as well, that is. Tony has pressed the ‘stage 3’ button already, but it’s been days, and S still hasn’t done the same. Tony hasn’t asked him outright why, still strongly believing that this needs to be a choice that S has to make by himself.

He just likes him a lot, and he thinks S likes him equally so. Tony isn’t a patient man, but he can wait. He can.

‘’I’ll go check up on them,’’ Pepper says humorously, and pats Tony on his arm as a way of goodbye. ‘’Why don’t you go mingle? There’s lots of people wanting to make your acquaintance.’’

Tony sighs and watches her walk over towards May, putting a hand on her lower back. May lets out a startled laugh and greets her with a kiss.

He wishes that S were here now. He takes out his phone for a second. There’s no new message yet - S had let him know he had a busy night, so he hadn’t expected it. Besides, he doesn’t have time for texting either. Still, he sends off a new message, just in case S has some time to look on his phone.

_9:01pm - I hope your evening isn’t going too badly. I’m kinda wishing I was home. - T_

Mingling may be important, but Tony isn’t really feeling it. He does a quick round around the room, plastering smiles and patting people on the back and making puns. Everyone just smiles at him and says a few sentences, but he manoeuvres out of everyone’s way quickly enough so not to get pulled into a conversation he doesn’t want to be in.

Ordering a glass of water at the bar, he doesn’t care about the odd looks he still gets from the waiters and the people surrounding him. He hasn’t drunk alcohol in years, but people still expect him to get cocktails and champagne at events like these. Just a part of the image people have of him, he supposes.

He makes his way over to the balcony, after. All good parties have one, is one thing he’s learned in his long life of going to galas and parties and other events.

‘’Oh, sorry,’’ he says, when he almost bumps into someone when going outside. The balcony is already taken. ‘’I didn’t see you there.’’

The man turns around. His suit is sharp, but maybe a few years old. That doesn’t mean the man doesn’t look flawless, however - his goatee is perfectly maintained and his hair styled perfectly. There’s a little grey in between the dark, like salt intermingling with pepper.

Combined with his sharp cheekbones, clear blue eyes and perfect figure - Tony is surprised he doesn’t start drooling right there and then.

‘’I’d say that you might need to get your eyes checked, but to be fair, I _was_ somewhat hiding.’’

The voice doesn’t help matters, but Tony braves a smile as he tries not to look up and down the man too obviously. 

‘’That’s a shame,’’ Tony says. ‘’I was looking to do some hiding myself. Is this spot taken, or is there room for one more?’’

The man’s lips tilt on one side into a grin. ‘’Well, I might be able to scooch over and give you some space. After all, you’re the man of the evening, aren’t you, Mr Stark?’’

Tony shrugs as he joins the man on the balcony. It’s rather small but it looks out on the city, and Tony enjoys seeing the lights in New York City in the evening. He can still hear the cars and the sirens on the streets from here, but he likes the eternal life. It makes him feel more alive, knowing that he’s not the only one awake. Even in the dead of night, there will always be sounds in his city.

‘’I don’t think it’s fair you know my name and I don’t know yours,’’ he says, turning to the man. ‘’Who are you?’’

‘’Dr Stephen Strange. I’m here with the Metro-General.’’

That is one of the hospitals that Stark Industries has a partnership with. Most of their personnel has been invited. Tony just smiles.

‘’And what, Dr Stephen Strange of the Metro-General, are you doing on the balcony all alone by yourself?’’

A car honks in the distance. Behind them, the sounds of a crowd talking and glass chiming continues. This is the world-in-between, making no sound, but able to hear all of it. Tony finds himself relaxing against the stone railing, warming his hands in the colder weather. It’s September, and it’s rapidly cooling off during the evening.

Strange offers him a glance. ‘’Parties aren’t really my thing,’’ he offers. ‘’I’ve been asked to come for my contributions to the hospital and the medical world in general, so I didn’t want to decline. And my friend didn’t have a plus one, which was apparently a huge issue.’’

His words are dripping with sarcasm. ‘’Your friend is off having fun now without you, aren’t they?’’ he guesses, thinking of Pepper dancing with May.

The doctor shrugs. ‘’I don’t mind. I told her to go, otherwise she would’ve been here with me all night. Are you cold, Mr Stark?’’

‘’Mr Stark is my dad,’’ he says immediately. ‘’And no. I’m fine.’’

Just as he says it, he feels a shiver come up and tremble through his body. Strange lets out a huff of amusement. ‘’I’m sure. You should have brought your jacket.’’

‘’Like you did?’’ Tony shoots back, moving his glass of water to the other hand. ‘’Rude, Strange.’’

It’s not like he’s going to admit that to this beautiful man who isn’t even wearing his own jacket right now. And yet, their words are playful. Strange grins at him, not even slightly put out by his remark.

‘’Well then, _Stark_, you’re free to suffer in the cold. After all, I don’t have a jacket to offer you.’’

‘’You’re just being an asshole for the fun of it, aren’t you? So gentlemanly of you.’’

‘’You want me to be gentlemanly?’’ Strange asks, and there’s puffs of hot air coming from his mouth too. He’s wearing gloves, though, so maybe he isn’t as cold as Tony. ‘’What does that make you in this situation?’’

‘’Cold, mostly,’’ Tony says.

Strange laughs, as if he’s surprised. Tony smiles, feeling pleased with himself. His decision to retreat is turning out better than he thought it would - he’d just expected to drink his water by himself on the balcony and get back inside once he felt a bit more up for faking his smiles. But now, he’s actually having fun.

All it needed was one sassy doctor. 

‘’But we already established I don’t have a jacket to give you,’’ Strange says, and he’s surprisingly close, now. ‘’So what is it that you are expecting me to give you?’’

Tony starts. With that one movement, he accidentally drops his glass, and the water spills all over Strange, just before a loud sound lets him know that the glass is broken.

‘’Shit,’’ he says, and pushes Strange away. ‘’I’m sorry - that’s my bad. I don’t even know what happened.’’

Strange grimaces as he straightens out his suit. ‘’Well, if you wanted me to be cold too, that definitely works.’’

And now he messed it up. Strange will have to go inside and dry out his suit or maybe even find something else entirely, and Tony will have to go back to the people who just want to talk to him because of his name. He curses at himself for having dropped that glass - though he knows why he did it.

Strange was flirting with him. And he hadn’t seen it coming.

He thinks about S for a moment, somewhere else in the world. He _likes_ S - he likes him a lot, so why had he flirted back? Because that’s what he had done.

Maybe because S still hasn’t moved them forward in SaltPepper. Maybe because Stephen Strange is gorgeous, and witty, and _right here_. But S is kind, and understanding, and just as sassy. And flirting with Strange - that feels wrong, in a way. But it also feels like something he wants. It’s just because it’s actual physical contact, Tony tells himself. He’s not even doing anything wrong - it’s harmless.

‘’Not what I meant,’’ he says resolutely. ‘’Not at all. I’m so sorry. Is there any way I can make up for that? I’ll buy you a drink. I’ll buy you a new suit! God, no, that’s overdoing it. Just - you can make me shut up, you know?’’

Strange is looking at him, his gaze intent. ‘’I think I rather enjoy this,’’ he says, but it’s in a quiet way. ‘’I’ll take you up on that drink. Maybe it’s best if we both go inside, before we freeze to death.’’

‘’Yes,’’ Tony says, relief bubbling in his chest.

He goes first, the doctor following him closely. ‘’We’ll have to inform someone that there’s broken glass on the balcony,’’ Strange says, glancing back. ‘’Before someone hurts themselves.’’

‘’A doctor’s first priority,’’ Tony jokes. ‘’Don’t let them know it was me. I think I’ve already broken too many glasses in this place in my younger years. This might just cross the line.’’

‘’We’ll tell them someone else did it,’’ Strange says, a small grin playing around his lips. ‘’So, who do you like least at this party?’’

Tony laughs.

~*~

_1:12am - My evening was surprisingly good, actually. How was yours? - S_

Tony reads the message in the morning, and then stares at the note he got with Stephen Strange’s phone number. He isn’t planning on texting Stephen - they’d just talked one evening. Continuously, but just one evening.

It’s odd. Stephen feels so familiar for someone he doesn’t know. Just talking with him had made the evening so much better, in very much the same way that S always does the same thing. Comparing the two of them makes Tony feel slightly odd, even as he thinks back on how engaging Stephen was last night. There’d just been an unnamed thing between them that he doesn’t have with anyone else.

He’s on a dating app because he wants to find someone, obviously. S knows that as well - and they haven’t made any promises. S hasn’t even pressed the button yet to move them to the third stage of the app. It’s only the fourth stage that will grant him pictures, and he wonders why he put in the pictures that late in the process.

What if he’s not attracted to S at all? What if S isn’t attracted to him? Tony still thinks that’s kind of an important part of the dating aspect, after all. He thinks of Stephen, with his glinting eyes and that smirk on his face. Handsome cheekbones and broad shoulders.

What if S will not even want to get to the fourth stage, and just stops talking, eventually?

He’s worrying too much. S was just busy last night, and Tony hasn’t actually done anything with Stephen. He doesn’t have to choose - that’s how dating works. He can just see how things work out.

_7:48am - I’m glad you had a good time. My evening wasn’t so bad, either. - T_

He tries not to feel too conflicted.

~*~

The thing is that S seems to know intuitively what to talk about and what matters are best left undiscussed. So that’s why Tony is a bit surprised to see the tentative question on his screen.

_7:21pm - I’ve been meaning to ask you something, but I don’t know if it’s something you want to talk about. It’s about the information you shared about yourself for the second stage. - S_

The more sensitive information that became available when S had decided to press ‘stage 2’ as well. Tony had seen what S had put there, and he hadn’t known how to bring it up. Apparently, S had a sister who drowned - and how do you even talk about that kind of loss?

Tony thinks about the waterboarding in Afghanistan, and thinks about never coming up for air again. It’s not a thought he wants to linger on. 

_7:33pm - You want to ask about my heart problems? I thought you didn’t want to give out free medical advice. - T_

The joke isn’t his best, but Tony isn’t the greatest at talking about his issues unless Pepper drives him in a corner and forces him to face his emotions. Tony hadn’t known what else to put in the sensitive information that wouldn’t give away his identity or feel too uncomfortable to talk about. He’s not the only one in the world to have heart problems, and well, he shouldn’t have been surprised that S would ask about it. He’s a former neurosurgeon, after all.

_7:36pm - I just wanted to know how serious it is. I know people who can help, and I have a lot of connections who would be willing to lower their fee if money’s a problem. - S_

_7:37pm - I’m sorry if I shouldn’t have brought it up. I know personally how awful health problems can be, and I wish you would have been spared of them. - S_

Tony smiles at his phone. His thumbs hover over the letters, unsure what to respond. He doesn’t mind that much, especially not from S. There’s something else in that final message though - it sounds like S has some experience with health issues himself.

_7:40pm - Don’t worry, I don’t mind. I got in an accident a few years ago, but I’ve had all the help I could possibly want since then. There’s nothing more for it, I’ll just have to learn to live with a bad heart, I guess. Are you okay? Sounds like you’ve been through some stuff yourself. - T_

There’s a bit of a pause, and Tony wonders if he shouldn’t have asked.

_7:42pm - I had an accident, too. As you said, we have to learn to live with it. - S_

Sometimes, Tony really hates having these conversations over text. He can imagine S, sitting all by himself. Who knows how many miles are between them? All he wants to do is go over to him and keep him close; keep him safe and healthy and happy.

No one deserves this kind of pain. Least of all S.

~*~

‘’So. How are things going with that doctor?’’ Rhodey says, in the middle of a movie.

It’s kind of a ritual of theirs - has been since their MIT days. They used to watch a movie, get a beer, and comment on the things that had been portrayed wrongly. One time, it had been a biography about Howard Stark. That one had been a lot of fun.

Things have changed, of course. Rhodey is out of the country half the time, so the ritual happens more sparingly than it used to. Also, they haven’t drunk alcoholic beverages ever since Tony got back out of Afghanistan, bringing with him his trauma, heart problems, and overall bad health.

‘’How do you - it was Pepper, wasn’t it?’’

Rhodey grins. ‘’May told me, actually. When Pepper wanted me to meet the new members of your support group.’’

‘’And they told you to have a manly conversation with me about _feelings_, I'm guessing?’’ Tony asks dryly.

The main character shouts something at his group of warriors - Tony isn’t even paying attention to the movie, anymore. It wasn’t that good, anyway, and he shifts to look at Rhodey. 

His friend just shrugs. ‘’Look, I’ve wanted to talk to you about something as well. I met someone - because of your app, actually. I was just checking it out, and then I got to talking with someone. We’ve met up a few times already, and I think it’s going really great.’’

‘’You met someone?’’ Tony repeats. Rhodey is even more of a lone wolf than Tony is - in all the years they’ve known each other, Rhodey has only ever dated maybe one or two women, and never that seriously or for long. 

He nods. ‘’She’s in the Air Force. That’s how the whole conversation started, actually. Her name’s Carol.’’

‘’Congratulations, man. I’m glad the app worked for you.’’ Tony means it. He never thought Rhodey would find someone on there, but maybe that means that it really worked. Maybe it means that his app is actually bringing people together and knows who to match with each other. 

Rhodey grins, and pats his back. ‘’Well, you don’t need it anymore, now that you found your Doctor Charming at that gala.’’

Tony doesn’t mention S. If SaltPepper worked for Rhodey, maybe S is a better choice for him. He definitely knows S far better than he knows Stephen Strange, so far. 

He just has to make a choice. He won’t feel better about it until he does. The thing is - how can he really make a choice until he knows what he’s choosing? He doesn’t know enough about how S will be outside of the app, and he doesn’t know Stephen Strange well enough to say if he’s even an actual option.

He just needs to meet up with S so he can see if they’re going anywhere.

_11:51pm - I know this is kinda out of the blue, but I want to see where this is going. Do you want to meet up, maybe? Where do you even live? - T_

It doesn’t take long.

_11:58pm - I’m not sure. There are some complications. I’m really sorry, and I don’t want to lose this. Can you give me some more time? - S_

Okay, so maybe he won’t be able to make a choice right now. Time - he can do that. 

~*~

The universe just likes toying with Tony, it seems.

‘’Stephen Strange?’’ he finds himself saying, staring at the man who’s sitting near the opening booth in the coffee shop that Tony frequents.

‘’Tony,’’ Stephen says, blinking up at him. There’s a steaming cup of tea in front of him, but the table is empty apart from that. ‘’I hadn’t expected to see you here.’’

‘’Likewise.’’ Tony stares back to see if there’s any other empty seats, but the shop is packed this time of the day. There’s no surprise about that: it’s one of the most-frequented shops, considering everyone likes their products so much.

He just wanted to sit quietly for a while in a place that wasn’t home or Stark Industries. Stephen notices him looking, apparently. ‘’If you want, you can share my booth,’’ he offers. There’s something insecure about that smile, but it’s still very real.

Tony sits down opposite him, putting down his own coffee and warming his hands with it. It’s cold outside, and he hadn’t dressed for it. Stephen smiles at him wryly.

‘’Thanks,’’ Tony says, smiling quietly. ‘’So, you’re more of a tea guy, aren’t you? I should’ve guessed.’’

‘’Coffee is for those who can’t manage to stay awake by themselves,’’ Stephen remarks. ‘’I don’t like the bitterness of it.’’

‘’So you drink hot leaf water. Noted.’’

‘’It’s better than hot bean water.’’

Tony laughs at Stephen’s prompt response. ‘’Fair enough,’’ he says. ‘’So how have you been? No one has thrown any more water at you?’’

‘’No, I thought I’d leave that task to you,’’ the doctor says, grinning as he leans forward. He hasn’t touched his tea yet, Tony notices. ‘’I’ve been doing well enough. How about you? I’ve heard you’re personally managing the prototypes for the hospitals.’’

Tony waves it away as he takes a sip of his coffee. That’s hot, and he makes a face. ‘’I’ve invented them, but I leave the building and everything else to the others in the R&D department. Wouldn’t want to leave them without job, after all.’’

‘’How magnanimous of you,’’ Stephen says. Tony looks at him, just to see the tiny hint of a smirk on his face - one eyebrow is slightly raised. His eyes are still as blue as they were during the gala, and his lips just as welcoming.

Tony looks away, trying to stop thinking about that. His attraction is purely a physical thing - it has nothing to do with him enjoying Stephen’s sarcasm or wit, and everything with Stephen’s sharp cheekbones and long legs.

‘’I do my best,’’ he says instead, twirling his cup of coffee around on the table. 

They’re both silent for a few minutes until Stephen hums. He still hasn’t touched his tea. Maybe he just prefers to drink it when it’s on the cold side? 

‘’I did want to thank you for saving me at the gala, the other day,’’ the doctor says. ‘’I wasn’t really looking forward to it. The best part of that evening was meeting you.’’

Tony smiles and downs his beverage. The heat of it soaks down from his throat to the rest of his body, and he can pretend he feels warm because of that instead of Stephen’s words.

‘’No problem. You saved my night from being horrible, you know?’’

Stephen’s smile is soft and secretive, and there’s a hint of something insecure in his expression. He shifts in his seat and Tony can’t draw his gaze away from the pinkish tinge to his pale cheeks. He’s the most gorgeous person Tony has ever seen, and if he’d been any closer, Tony might have done something stupid like kiss him.

Why does it feel like he has known Stephen for years, already? Why does he affect Tony so much?

Why can’t Tony stop feeling guilty about S with every second he looks at Stephen?

‘’Then I suppose we helped each other out,’’ Stephen says eventually, and lets his tea grow cold as Tony sits with him.

~*~

_11:03pm - Have you ever been in love before? - S_

_11:06pm - Yes. Why? - T_

_11:08pm - I don’t think that I’ve ever been in love before. I don’t know how it feels. Are butterflies an actual thing? I must admit I’m a bit skeptic. - S_

_11:11pm - I think it’s different for everyone. I just looked at her and knew that I’d follow her anywhere. That she made me happy when she was here, and I thought about her when she wasn’t, that kind of stuff. - T_

_11:13pm - I don’t think I’m explaining it right, sorry. I’m a rambling mess at the best of times but I don’t know how to put this into words. At some point, you just know that someone is better than you’ll ever be, and you’d do anything to keep them with you, you know? You just look at someone, and you know. - T_

_11:16pm - No, I understand. Do you think it’d feel different with someone else? - S_

_11:18pm - I don’t know. I guess we’ll see, right? - T_

_11:18pm - I’m sorry for keeping you waiting. I don’t really know what I’m doing. - S_

_11:20pm - That’s alright. I think you’re the kind of person I’m willing to wait for. - T_

~*~

‘’I’m a bit afraid to let go of this jacket,’’ Stephen jokes, even as they enter the main hall, ‘’just in case you find yourself standing outside again, in need of being warmed up. I’m not worming my way through all these people for you just to find a coat, Tony, I’ll warn you beforehand.’’

‘’Well, I’ll try not to throw water on you this time,’’ Tony says flippantly, though he grins. ‘’Don’t worry. They don’t even have a balcony here.’’

‘’Then the party is doomed in advance,’’ Stephen says, and Tony snorts.

He’s the head of R&D, and the former CEO of Stark Industries. It would be sad to not have a plus one to bring to their own anniversary, he thinks. Stark Industries has existed for seventy-five years this fall, and that is the reason they’re throwing a party.

He would’ve asked S to come with him. They’re still talking about anything that might come to mind - Tony still thinks he’s falling. It’s impossible not to, talking to S. He’s the same sarcastic and sharp-tongued guy that he has always been, even if there’s some underlying tension now. Maybe Tony shouldn’t have asked to meet, yet; maybe S has some reservations about him.

He doesn’t really know why he had asked Stephen to come. Seeing the doctor again, however, had made something feel lighter in his chest. He looks so good in the suit, too, though he wonders lightly why he is keeping his gloves on inside. Last time, he had done that as well. 

‘’Well, no party is ruined as long as I’m here,’’ he jokes, and Stephen smiles at him. It’s softer than the grins that Tony is familiar with, now, and his heart skips a beat.

Damn it, Tony. Way to make things far too complicated.

‘’No doubt,’’ Stephen responds. ‘’That means I’m counting on you to keep me entertained.’’

Tony smirks. ‘’Do you flirt with everyone like that, or am I just special?’’

Surprisingly, Stephen’s face turns a bit red at that. It’s not anything that Tony had expected, and he watches the doctor with some intrigue.

‘’I’m not very smooth, actually,’’ Stephen admits. ‘’Maybe it’s just with guys that throw water at me.’’

Tony pats him on the back and lets his hand rest on Stephen’s back, guiding him to the center of the hall. It’s bigger than the building where the gala was; then again, Stark Industries is one of the biggest companies in America. Throwing a party like this won’t even make a dent in their budget.

‘’I already made up for that,’’ Tony points out. ‘’I bought you a drink. Several drinks, in fact, if I recall. That I _didn’t_ throw at you, afterwards.’’

Stephen grins, and Tony wishes he could stay with him all night long, just bantering. He is the most beautiful man at the entire party, but Tony has duties. So he leaves Stephen to get together with some of the business partners and pretend to like them more than he does. It’s a night of schmoozing, unfortunately.

Sometimes, Stephen smirks at him from the other side of the room, though, and Tony will feel a bit better for it.

Pepper and May are also there, though they left Peter at home, this time. He must have convinced his aunt that he’s too old to have a babysitter. May waves at him excitedly, as she comes over to talk. Pepper is somewhere else; probably being a good CEO and buttering up the people who need attention.

‘’I’m so glad to see a familiar face,’’ May says, laughing a bit awkwardly. ‘’Never thought I’d say that Tony Stark was a familiar face, but there you go. I hope the evening is fun for you?’’

Tony smiles. ‘’It’s fine,’’ he says. ‘’I’m sorry you don’t get to spend more time with Pepper at this party. Expectations, schmoozing, small talk. It’s all the life of a CEO. Or even former CEO, I guess.’’

She waves his concerns away. ‘’I knew that going in,’’ she says, her eyes twinkling. ‘’I’m actually having fun seeing everyone breaking their necks trying to talk to you and Pepper. You brought a plus one as well, didn’t you? Pepper told me you were interested in someone, but she didn’t know who. Did you bring him, or the doctor from the gala?’’

‘’The doctor from the gala,’’ a very familiar voice comes from behind him. Tony feels himself tense up as Stephen appears, a polite smile on his face. 

Shit. That’s not what was supposed to happen.

‘’Oh,’’ May says, panic apparent all over her face. ‘’Uh - I’m - hi. I’m May Parker. Nice to meet you?’’

She’s bold enough to keep standing, at least, shaking Stephen’s hand.

‘’Dr Stephen Strange,’’ the doctor says smoothly, not a single hint of what he’s thinking in his voice. ‘’It’s very nice to meet you. Tony, if I could talk to you for a minute? Excuse me, Miss Parker.’’

‘’No problem.’’ Tony’s voice is just as calm, at least. Years of bullshitting with the press has taught him that, if nothing else. Stephen walks in front of him, managing his way through the crowd more easily with his tall form. Tony just has to follow until they’re in a sort of quieter corner, though there’s still plenty of people surrounding them.

‘’Tony -’’

‘’Yeah?’’ Tony says, very aware he’s interrupting while Stephen’s already talking. ‘’What’s up?’’

Stephen sighs. ‘’I saw how you reacted. I’m not disappointed or angry, you know, if there’s someone else. I’m really okay with that. It’s actually - it’s fine.’’

Really okay with that. Tony doesn’t know what to make of that. ‘’I’m sorry,’’ he offers. ‘’I didn’t - it just kind of happened. It’s not really a _someone else_ yet, you know? It’s just a potential thing. And I do like you.’’

Stephen presses a kiss against his cheek - it’s so fleeting that Tony almost wants to pull him back, just to disappear into his warmth. He doesn’t think Stephen would react all too kindly to that, though.

‘’I like you too,’’ Stephen admits. ‘’But I haven’t been completely fair to you, either. I think it’s best if you go after your someone, Tony. It’ll be for the better, for both of us. I’m not even sure what you wanted us to be, anyway.’’

And with that, Stephen Strange turns around and leaves. Tony can’t even say anything, as surprised as he is. This isn’t leaving him with much choices. Perhaps Stephen wasn’t as much into him as he thought. What did he even mean?

Maybe it’s just an easy way to let him down. Tony sighs, puts on a fake smile, and returns to the party. He ignores the way that Stephen walking out on him makes him feel lower than he has felt in a long while.

Pepper passes him, and pinches his hand for support before being on her way again. It doesn’t make him feel much better.

~*~

_9:02am - I think I’m ready to meet you. I live in New York. Are you nearby, by any chance? - S_

Tony can’t quite believe it, when he reads the message. He jumps up, his feet clanging on the metal of the workshop’s floor. Last night, he’d been ready to call it quits on the whole dating thing. Stephen didn’t seem that interested in him, and S had other reasons for not wanting to take things any further - but now, S wants to meet, and he’s in New York, of all places.

The man he has been talking with for two months now, and they’re finally going to meet. Maybe he’s passed him on the streets, once. 

_9:33am - I’m in New York, too. Wanna do lunch? - T_

His heart beats loudly in his chest. He can’t even focus on returning to his work before he gets an answer. He has a chance here to meet S. Witty, smart, kind S. 

_9:35am - I can’t do lunch, sorry, I’m not teaching at the university today. I can do dinner at maybe 7ish? Want to swap photos, so we’ll recognize each other? And where do you want to meet? - S_

Tony is pretty sure that some of the others down in the workshop are casting weird looks at him as he smiles down broadly at his screen. It’s his fault for not working in his personal lab today, but he’d thought he’d like the company.

Seems he’s already getting company tonight. He’d rather not show S a photo of him, now they’re so close to meeting - everyone knows who Tony is, and he’d rather not scare him off now that he has changed his mind.

_9:36am - It’ll be fine, I’d rather keep it a surprise. Do you like Italian? I know this great little place. I can text you the address. - T_

S seems to be just as eager as he is, seeing the speed with which he is responding.

_9:37am - I’m looking forward to it. More than you can believe. - S_

Tony doubts that. He’s pretty excited, too.

~*~

There’s a thousand ways to explain how Tony is feeling, but only because he’s not exactly sure which one would fit best. There’s a ball of anxiety in his stomach - he’s not the greatest at romance. He failed with Pepper, and last night again with Stephen.

Maybe he’ll fail with S. 

Stephen weighs on his mind, now. Tony just wonders what he would have said if Stephen had still been in the picture. His life is suddenly very convenient, to open one opportunity when another one closes. But it is only convenient because he didn’t have to choose, in the end.

If he’d had a choice, who would he have picked?

He doesn’t know. And how can he know? He just knows that he really likes S and enjoys talking to him - but would he feel the same way near them that he feels near Stephen? Is it even fair to continue this if he’s starting to feel this conflicted?

Damn the world for bringing Stephen Strange into his life. This doesn’t need to be so complicated, especially after two evenings and a short meeting that weren’t even dates, strictly speaking. The thing is - Stephen feels so familiar already. The way he talks, his jokes, it all strikes a chord in Tony. And in all the ways that Tony doesn’t know him - well, he can learn to. He can imagine how that will be.

If he tries to imagine S, all he sees is a blurry face.

It’s half past seven when he finds himself rushing to the Metro-General. He doesn’t even know what he’s thinking anymore, at this point. He just needs to know, for sure. He needs to know, and then he can let go.

He hopes.

‘’Is Stephen Strange here?’’ he asks frantically, when he reaches the desk. ‘’I need to know if he’s here.’’

‘’You’re in luck,’’ one of the ladies says. ‘’He’s here today. Ask for him somewhere on the second floor, he’s probably writing there.’’

Tony doesn’t even listen to her beyond ‘second floor’, as he rushes up the stairs. He doesn’t even have to ask around: just as he reaches the floor, he bumps into no one other than the doctor he is looking for.

‘’Tony?’’ Stephen asks. ‘’What’s wrong?’’

He’s even more beautiful than yesterday, in his sharp suit. He’s wearing a casual red sweater and dark jeans, and his hair is a bit of a mess. The gloves are still there, though, but Tony doesn’t feel like questioning that right now.

‘’I just need to know,’’ Tony says, trying to catch his breath. 

‘’Know what?’’

Tony surges forward and kisses him, holding Stephen’s face close to him with his two hands. Stephen doesn’t fight it - after two seconds of surprise, he leans into it, resting his hands on Tony’s lower back and pressing him closer together.

It’s a desperate sort of kiss. Tony has to reach up on his toes to keep Stephen pressed to him. Stephen’s facial hair scratches his face, but his lips are soft and welcoming, and his cold nose is pressed to Tony’s.

It must have been going on a while before Stephen pushes him away, staring at him with wide blue eyes. ‘’What are you doing?’’ he demands, taking a step back.

‘’I need to know,’’ Tony repeats. ‘’Stephen, please. Stay with me.’’

Stephen looks pained. ‘’I can’t.’’

‘’Why not?’’

‘’There’s someone else,’’ Stephen says quietly. ‘’You had - you had someone else, too. So I knew that I could pick him, finally - without thoughts of you getting in the way. You can’t do this, Tony, not now. There’s someone else for both of us.’’

Tony has a date with S that he’s probably running late for. He can’t even think of it - the wonderful man that he has been chatting with for months, looking at the time and wondering when Tony would show up.

He’s the worst kind of person on Earth, isn’t he? He’d vowed to become a better man after Afghanistan, and here he is. Playing with the hearts of two seperate man, simply because he can’t choose.

‘’I’m afraid to do this wrong,’’ Tony says, and leans against the hospital wall, suddenly exhausted. ‘’Stephen, I can’t - what if I let you go, and it turns out that I can’t?’’

It seems like a bad joke. Standing here, in a hospital with a vending machine and two plants witness to their conversation, while Stephen is shaking his head at him. ‘’You have to pick,’’ Stephen says resolutely. ‘’It has to be like this, Tony. I’m not going to let down the one man who has been so patient with me. You’re amazing, and I would’ve been lucky to date you. But he’s amazing, too, and I want to get to know him. I have to go.’’

It doesn’t sound like Stephen knows his date all too well, in that case, but he’s made his mind up. Tony just makes a non-committal noise as he watches Stephen go and slides down the wall. He’s exhausted.

This morning, he’d been so sure that S was the way to go. Why wouldn’t he be? If nothing else, S is kind-hearted and funny and witty. He’s everything that Tony has been looking for - but so is Stephen.

If he doesn’t want to fuck up his romantic life, he should accept that Stephen isn’t a viable option anymore. He still has S - wonderful S, who is waiting for him. He checks his watch - it’s a few minutes before the time they agreed to meet. If he hurries, he’ll be on the acceptable side of late. He can make up an excuse.

That will be a great way to start a date, for sure.

His heart aches trying to think of S sitting in the restaurant, looking around for a brown-haired man in a green shirt. Maybe he’d approach the wrong person a few times. God, how can Tony be so disappointing? 

He just can’t bring himself to move. He slides his hand in his pocket to feel for his phone - even if Tony can’t do this tonight, can’t face S tonight, he should let him know. Reschedule the date.

His hand hits nothing and his blood freezes. He left his phone at Stark Industries - and which is at least an hour away, in this traffic. He can’t reach S right now.

S will just be waiting in a restaurant for someone to show up - and Tony can’t.

He lowers his head and sits still for a very long time, feeling everything fall apart.

~*~

_Thu 6:53pm - I’m running a little late. I will be there as soon as I can! - S_

_Thu 7:17pm - Are you here already? - S_

_Thu 7:31pm - Are you alright? Are you coming? - S_

_Thu 8:34pm - I’m leaving, T. I’m not sure why you aren’t here or why you’re not responding. - S_

_Thu 11:12pm - Can you just respond? - S_

_2:13am - Maybe this wasn’t the best idea anyway. I’m worried about you, but the complications are not quite as gone as I thought. - S_

_2:51am - You’re probably not even awake, but I can’t stop thinking about you. About everything. I’m sorry for dragging you into this. I’m not even so sure what this is, anymore. - S_

_3:07am - I’m sorry. About everything. Goodbye, T. - S_

Tony doesn’t even know what to feel, when he finally reads the messages when he gets back to work.

Last night, he’d been wandering around the city all night, just thinking about what he wanted. One thing was very clear: he’d messed up by going to Stephen. The doctor had made it very clear that he wasn’t going to pick Tony, and he’d just wanted verification. There’s someone who is waiting for Tony, who likes him, who Tony may or may not be in love with, and he’d gone out and ruined that just so he could kiss Stephen Strange.

It’d been too late to go back to Stark Industries - two employees are needed to open the workshop back up, and Tony hadn’t wanted to drag anyone out of bed by the time he would’ve gotten there. So he resigned himself to having stood up S, even if he feels like a terrible asshole.

Well. He has been a terrible asshole, there’s no two ways about it. But he’d thought the situation with S would be mendable - he’d just explain that something had come up, that he hadn’t been able to leave and that he’d forgotten his phone. No lies, just little untruths. Lying to S only makes him feel worse.

The messages that S has left him make his blood run cold, however.

_7:46am - I’m sorry, S. I’m an asshole. Can we please do this over? - T_

Just when he hits ‘send’, a new message arrives in the chatbox. It’s not from S, and it’s not the thing that Tony has just written.

_We’re sorry, but the other user has decided that this match isn’t really working. Good luck out there with other users! There’s plenty of fish in the sea ;)_

It’s a generated message. It’s for when someone tries to send a message to a user that has deleted them as a match.

S has deleted him as a match.

~*~

It’s a bleak few days that are ahead of him. Tony just works on the prototypes for the hospitals. Always, he wonders if Stephen would use them. He doesn’t even know what kind of doctor Stephen is - there’s a lot he doesn’t know.

Thinking about S is even worse. There’s always the feeling of guilt and loss, when he thinks of the witty professor. Maybe S even knows Stephen - he was a neurosurgeon, after all, and he lives in New York. If they’d worked at the same hospital, they could even have been colleagues.

What kind of weird coincidence would that be?

It’s not even that he only feels guilt for missing his date with S, or not having told them that he might also be developing feelings for someone else. It’s just - he misses their conversations. 

He misses S complaining about his students, only to turn around and fondly talk about a wonderful insight someone put in their essay, though he’d never tell the student in particular about that. He misses S asking him about what he was working on and explaining the concepts, only for S to grasp an understanding far quicker than many others that Tony knows. He likes the dry sarcasm and underlying softness.

S is just as lonely as Tony is, he thinks. They could’ve done away with all that, if Tony hadn’t been such an idiot.

Stephen has made a choice, and Tony had foolishly thought he could still make his own. And he has, now - he’s going to grovel for S’s forgiveness.

He hasn’t looked at user profiles in his tiny tweaks to SaltPepper, the past few months. He didn’t want to tempt himself and look at everything that S had put up on there that wasn’t available to Tony yet. But now, S has deleted him, and Tony can’t make it up to him if he doesn’t know who he is.

Finding a user isn’t that easy, without knowing their full username. That’s why he lets JARVIS look for the right description as he takes a shower, needing to distract himself.

He’ll know S’s full name in just a few minutes, hopefully. That’s going to be a starting point. And Tony will have cheated, but that’s not as important. He can make it up to S - he means to make it up to him. Hopefully, if he’s lucky, he can spend years making up for it.

‘’_Sir, I have found the user in the database_,’’ JARVIS lets him know as he’s drying. ‘’_It appears he has deleted his account since, however_.’’

Tony doesn’t know if that’s a good or a bad sign. ‘’Just tell me his full name,’’ he says determinedly. ‘’If I know who he is, I can find him. I’ll tell him everything, and hope he still wants this. Wants me.’’

‘’_The full name, sir, is Dr Stephen Vincent Strange_.’’

Tony drops his shirt as the information appears before him. Stephen picked a good picture - he’s smiling a little bashfully, as if he’s insecure to be putting up a photograph, but he looks as good as he always does. His full name is below it, and Tony just stares for a long while.

‘’Shit,’’ he says.

The universe just has it out for him, doesn’t it?

~*~

‘’Mr Stark - I mean, Tony,’’ May says, staring as if she’s going mad as he stands before her front door. ‘’Uh - Pepper isn’t here.’’

‘’Yeah, I know,’’ Tony says, and just manages to smile at her. ‘’I wanted to talk to you, actually. If that’s okay?’’

‘’Yeah, sure.’’ May keeps surprising him - she doesn’t even hesitate as she steps aside to let him in, closing the door behind him. Her house isn’t that big. The small hallway leads into a modest living room, though it’s warmly decorated. A few pictures hang on the walls. Pepper and May are in one of them, the picture clearly taken the day of the gala.

There is another picture with a young couple and a baby. Peter and his parents, he assumes. He doesn’t actually know what happened to them, but it can’t have been pretty, for Peter to have been brought up by his aunt.

‘’I’m sorry for barging in,’’ he offers. ‘’Is Peter home?’’

May smiles. ‘’Sit down. Do you want something to drink? Peter’s at a friend’s house, right now, so it’s just us. I have to say, I’m really surprised to see you here. Is everything alright?’’

‘’I’m fine,’’ Tony says, but he looks away as she sits down opposite him. ‘’Look, I just - I don’t know why I came here. Well, maybe I do a bit. Pepper and Rhodey are the most important people in my life, you know? They’ve both started dating people, and I couldn’t be more happy for them. It’s just - I wanted that, too. It’s why I made SaltPepper in the first place. And if I went to Pepper and Rhodey, they’d call me an asshole. They’d be right to, but then they’d console me. And I just needed to hear what someone else thought. Someone who’s not part of this world that I’m in. I need to know what to do, because I’m doing everything wrong.’’

She nods slowly. ‘’Tell me what happened,’’ she says.

And he does.

~*~

There’s all kinds of chattering students passing him by. The ones that notice him stare, but no one approaches him. He’s glad for that - he’s too tense to deal with anyone right now.

He waits until the last of the young adults have left the lecture hall before he goes inside. There’s only one solitary figure left in the front of the room - Dr Stephen Strange, slowly gathering his things. 

‘’Stephen.’’

Stephen looks up - he starts visibly when he sees Tony, and just sighs. ‘’Tony. What are you doing here?’’

‘’This was your final lecture of the day, right?’’ he asks. He knows it is, because he checked, but he wants to make sure. He doesn’t know what else Stephen has planned, after all. 

‘’Yes. How did you know I’d be here?’’

_You told me you were a professor_, Tony doesn’t say. Stephen doesn’t know it’s _him_ he told this, after all. In a way, Tony doesn’t know if S and Stephen being the same person makes this harder or easier.

He knows what he wants now, though. Stephen had been so familiar because he’d _known_ him, even if he hadn’t realized it at that time. He hadn’t fallen in love with two separate man - it was just one man, a perfect blend of kind and gorgeous and smart. 

‘’Never mind that,’’ Tony says. ‘’I have to tell you something. The man you were going on a date with, when I came to the hospital -’’

‘’Tony, I told you -’’

‘’It was me. That man, it was me.’’ Stephen remains silent, staring at him conspicuously. Tony continues. ‘’You’ve been talking to a man with the initial T for a few months now. Things were complicated, so you didn’t want to move it forward. You decided to meet up when I was out of the picture, but then I came to the hospital. And T never made it to the date, because T is me. I was sitting there.’’

‘’You’re lying,’’ Stephen says, but his breathing speeds up.

Tony shakes his head. ‘’You have a sister who drowned. You were a neurosurgeon, until you quit to become a professor two years ago. For some reason, you’re still affiliated with the Metro-General, though. You had the worst opening line ever, but you are so genuine about everything you say that it doesn’t matter. You decided at three in the morning to delete me from your matches. You’re the smartest and most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, and I fell in love with you not just once, but twice.’’

Stephen closes his eyes and leans against his desk. Tony just waits for him to regain his senses, because the doctor looks awfully pale. He still hasn’t worked out everything - why exactly Stephen deleted him as a match after rejecting Tony, or why he didn’t want to move forward with T. But he knows that he wants this - wants Stephen. More than anything in the world.

‘’I can’t believe this,’’ Stephen says weakly. ‘’You _asshole_.’’

‘’What now?’’ Tony says, blinking.

‘’You thought this was fun? You knew all along, didn’t you? Was this just some kind of game to you?’’

There is no way that Stephen thinks Tony knew this. He can’t believe that. Tony takes a step forward. ‘’Stephen, I didn’t know. I just figured it out a few days ago. You have to -’’

‘’You _made_ that app,’’ Stephen says, and his voice is far louder now as his anger grows. ‘’You can’t convince me that you _didn’t_ know who you were talking to. I’m not an idiot, Tony, and I’m not someone that you can just toy around with like that. I never want to see your face again. Leave.’’

‘’Stephen -’’

‘’_Leave_.’’

Tony, uncertain of what else he can do and feeling his heart break too much for him to continue functioning, does what is asked of him.

He leaves.

~*~

‘’There’s lots of other people, Tony,’’ Pepper says, but her expression is pained. Tony just sinks deeper into the couch, refusing to look her in the eye. 

All he wanted was to just go home, but May had told Pepper about his situation. He can’t even be mad at her for it. After all, Pepper only means to cheer him up and get him back to his feet, but he can’t. He’s exhausted and lonely and he has to accept that he’s going to be alone.

‘’I don’t want anyone else,’’ he says, because she still expects an answer from him. ‘’Would you have settled for anyone but May?’’

The couch dips further when she settles in next to him. ‘’I would have,’’ she says bluntly. ‘’Hear me out, Tony - I would’ve been upset if May hadn’t felt the same way about me. But I don’t think there’s only one person out there for everyone. I think there’s other people that will be just as good for you as Strange might have been. It’s a matter of the right place at the right time.’’

Pepper has always been more logical about love than Tony. It’s not a bad thing, necessarily, but it doesn’t help him soothe his heartache. Besides, he doesn’t think that he works that way. He’d loved Pepper for a long time before he’d managed to kiss her, and he doesn’t think that he waited for the right place, or even the right time.

He just waited for her to think that they’d arrived there.

‘’I messed this up,’’ he mutters, and sighs. ‘’I don’t even know how I managed to be so bad at dating. Was I this much of a mess when we were a thing?’’

Pepper smiles and presses a kiss to his cheek, taking his phone from his pocket even as she does so. ‘’Even worse,’’ she says, but her voice is soft with kindness. ‘’Now, I want you to open up SaltPepper again, and start again. That’s all we can ever do, Tony. We start again.’’

With that, she rises. Tony waits until she is gone to open up SaltPepper again. Within seconds, he has deleted his account.

He’s done with putting his heart on the line. Especially when this is all that ever comes out of it.

~*~

Tony sees Stephen at the coffee shop, on a cold morning. The doctor is sitting in the same booth he was last time, and he just looks up to meet Tony’s eyes right at the moment that Tony sees him. For a moment, it’s just the two of them. Stephen rises, one gloved hand leaning on the table -

Tony turns back and walks away.

~*~

‘’And that’s why I’m proud to continue this association with all the hospitals in New York and make it a safer city,’’ he says loudly in the microphone, trying to stop himself from searching for one particular face in the crowd. ‘’Our new technology will be more reliable. It’s everyone working in the hospitals, however, that are saving lives. We just want to help you do that, and that’s why we encourage everyone to send us feedback in the first few months. Together, we can save more people than ever before.’’

With that, he ends his speech. The audience politely claps for him and Tony smiles tightly as he exits the stage.

‘’Good speech,’’ Pepper says, clapping his back. ‘’I think there’s some board members who want to talk to you.’’

‘’Can I just leave?’’ Tony asks. ‘’I did the speech. Shook some hands, did some buttering up. I don’t want to run into Stephen. You know what he said.’’

Pepper examines him for a few long seconds. ‘’He may not feel that way anymore.’’

Tony shrugs. ‘’If he’d felt differently, he’d have called. He does have my phone number, you know.’’

It’s been a while since Stephen had yelled at him to go. Tony had listened, and he’d made sure that he didn’t come back. Stephen is apparently better at making choices than he is.

Getting over him isn’t easy, but Tony knows it’s what he has to do. He’s in love with Stephen, and forgetting him will take some more time. He’s just waiting for this to be over and for his heart to be his own again, so he can forget about what happened.

‘’Just stay half an hour,’’ Pepper suggests. ‘’I’ll make sure Stephen won’t come anywhere near you, if he’s even here.’’

Tony nods his consent, though he isn’t really feeling it. This association is important, though, and they’re doing good work. It had taken some all-nighters to get everything done on time, but he’d liked the distraction.

If he needs to pretend again, however, he needs to regain his composure first. There’s a balcony, here, and he grimaces at the memory. Still, he leaves for a breath of air. The balcony is slightly bigger than the one they had found during the gala, but he can still hear all the sounds that he heard there.

Behind him, cheerful people with clinking glasses. In front of him, cars honking on the streets. Everything is still the same.

‘’I’m starting to think you have a thing for balconies.’’

Tony doesn’t even have to turn around to recognize that voice - still, he does. Stephen Strange stands in the same suit he wore when they first met, though his stance is more wary than it was back then.

‘’Not so much balconies as the only place to have some peace,’’ he says, and wonders why Stephen comes to stand next to him. It’d been just a month since he’d told Stephen. He hadn’t really expected to talk to him.

He grips the railing tighter. He shouldn’t give himself false hope.

Stephen makes a noise. ‘’It was a good speech. Do you really believe it? That it’s going to save lives, I mean?’’

‘’The arc reactor technology has many uses,’’ Tony says wearily. ‘’It won’t just give you more reliable energy, but it can also be helpful in other ways. That’s still an application I’m working on, though. But yes, I know it can save lives. It saved mine, once, and I think that it should be able to save more.’’

‘’How did it save your life?’’

Tony grimaces and taps his chest. ‘’Heart problems, remember? When I got back from Afghanistan, everything changed about my life. I had shards of shrapnel removed from my heart with help from the arc reactor technology. They would’ve pierced my heart, if I hadn’t done that. I would’ve been dead.’’

Stephen just leans against the railing next to him, not even looking at him. ‘’I thought it was a lie. The heart problems.’’

A bitter laugh escapes Tony. ‘’I’ve never told you a lie. I’ve been an idiot and an asshole, but I haven’t lied. Not once.’’

‘’Well,’’ Stephen says quietly. ‘’I guess that makes two of us.’’

‘’I don’t know why you’re here,’’ Tony admits, and turns to face the doctor. ‘’You said you never wanted to see me again. Why are you here?’’

The wind gushes past them. It’s a whole other sound, and Tony shudders in the cold. Stephen looks at him. ‘’I should have brought you a jacket.’’

‘’That’s not an answer,’’ Tony points out.

Stephen shrugs. ‘’Well, maybe I lied once. I did want to see you again. Tony, dating isn’t - I’m not smooth, as you said. I’ve only ever been smooth with you, and not even always. I was waiting for the right time on the app, and then I met you for real, and I didn’t know. I thought I had to make a choice, and I didn’t know who to pick.’’

‘’I had the same issue,’’ Tony says, huffing out a small laugh.

Stephen offers him a soft smile and removes his gloves. Tony blinks as white scars appear - they’re not easy to miss. Stephen’s hands must have born the brush of the accident that S had told him about, and suddenly Tony understands why Stephen always wears gloves.

‘’I haven’t dated anyone since my accident,’’ Stephen explains. ‘’Didn’t date much before, either. I stopped being a neurosurgeon and started teaching because I physically couldn’t be a surgeon anymore, Tony. And getting back from that was - hard. I didn’t have many friends to begin with, but I drove most of them away in that period. Spent all the money I had on making sure I could use my hands again. Nothing really worked. I’m still at the Metro-General in a research capacity. I don’t have much of a social life, until Christine told me to use your app. And then I met you, and then I met you _again_, and things got complicated.’’

‘’I still think you’re the most wonderful person I’ve met,’’ Tony says, and takes Stephen’s hands. They’re warm from the gloves, and he feels the heat tingle through his body. ‘’Look, I’m just going to go out and say it - I think I’m in love with you. All those midnight conversations - I just can’t help myself. I’ve fallen in love with you twice, even. And you’re not telling me to back off, now.’’

‘’I don’t want to,’’ Stephen says quietly.

‘’Then what do you want?’’ Tony asks. ‘’I’m willing to give you anything you might want to have of me. Just say the word.’’

Stephen doesn’t say anything, but he bows down to capture Tony’s lips. Tony just stills as Stephen deepens the kiss, leaning against the man.

Of all the outcomes, he hadn’t thought _this_ would be one. He’d thought Stephen had made his choice. Turns out that Stephen is just as bad at choosing as Tony is.

They only break apart when Tony shivers again. Stephen laughs quietly. ‘’Maybe it really is time to get you that jacket?’’

‘’I don’t have water now, but I’ll find a way to get you drenched again if you stop kissing me,’’ Tony threatens, and drags Stephen down by his tie to kiss him again. Stephen’s arms surround him, offering what warmth they can, but Tony is just glad to be here, no matter what the temperature is.

Stephen just stays close to him after they part for air, his nose pressed against Tony’s. He’s wearing a faint smile.

‘’How about we get our jackets and leave?’’ he suggests. ‘’I’ve heard there’s a good Italian place nearby. And you owe me a date.’’

Tony presses another fleeting kiss to Stephen’s mouth at that. He can do that now, after all. ‘’Well, I promised Pepper I’d stay for thirty more minutes, but I guess we can bail a little early.’’

A rumble comes from Stephen’s chest. ‘’You know she only asked that because Christine interfered and hit me over the head multiple times for letting you go, right? They concocted this. I think that Miss Parker had a hand in it, as well.’’

Tony laughs. ‘’I should let those women run SaltPepper. There’s no one better at matchmaking than those three.’’

Stephen hums and pulls him closer. ‘’I think SaltPepper works fine as it is. Though I won’t be needing it anymore, I hope.’’

Passing through the cheerful noise of a crowd, Tony takes Stephen’s hand. He doesn’t think either of them will need it. Stephen just tightens his hold, his fingers brushing over Tony’s knuckles.

They walk into the streets together, without jackets, but that doesn’t matter. Neither of them is willing to let go, and Tony has so many things he wants to do with Stephen. So many questions to ask and stories to tell.

But today is their first date, and there’s plenty of time for everything else afterwards.

**Author's Note:**

> Give it up for [Turtle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtle_abyss), who helped me get rid of the many, _many_ mistakes in this thing. I forgive you for laughing at me for some of them, Turtle. Any and all mistakes that remain are my own.


End file.
